The Prank
by AalisEliza
Summary: The Marauders aren't the only students at Hogwarts that are infamous for their pranks. Say hello to their competition.
1. Chapter I

_Readers, hello. I hope that you enjoy this new version of The Prank. I was not happy with how it was left, and so I chose (during finals week of course) to revamp it giving it new life. I am currently writing the fourth chapter, and will release the ones currently written when you guys let me know when you want them and if you like the new style. Some stuff will remain, others are gone and new material will be in this story, so I suggest not skipping anything! Also the story structure has changed. I hope you like it! _

_-Aalis_

* * *

Chapter I

Fifteen year old Lily Evans was busy working in the library. She was completely unobservant to her surroundings while she read through her textbooks for the following school year. It was a tradition she had begun during her first year. After she'd read through all of her books, and realized that she had nothing else to do in her spare time, she began to "borrow without permission" from the second year Gryffindors. She always returned their text books before they noticed they were missing. When she was shopping for her second year, she made sure to partner up with an older student so as to steal their list and duplicate it. That way she could buy the books and use them throughout the year. It gave her an interesting perspective on what changes were made to the curriculum each year. It also helped her stay ahead of everyone else.

She was browsing the "Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six" looking to see which spell she wanted to learn first. She flipped page after page as her eyes stared keenly at the text. The spell that finally caught her eye was an advanced version of the Lumos. "Lumos Felibus is an advanced version of the spell Lumos. Instead of the small amount of light that is produced from using Lumos, this branch of the spell will flood an entire room, allowing numerous amounts of light, regardless of whether or not the darkness is a spell, or natural"(Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six).

Lily grinned after she finished reading. She bookmarked the page and hurried off to an empty classroom after grabbing her satchel. After going over the theory once more she pulled, out her wand and started practicing. It took several attempts, but her wand erupted into a light so powerful that it lit the entire room.

"Amazing," she whispered. She was just about to mutter the counter spell when the door burst open.

"Lily!" A girl with straight honey brown hair had entered into the room.

"One day and you've already been to the library?" She asked teasingly. Lily gave her a sheepish grin.

"Don't tease me when you're the one who's coming to ask me to teach it to you," Lily said. The girl sat down next to her and grinned.

"You know me far too well."

"Considering you're one of my best friends Ashton I should hope so." Lily answered as she handed her the spell book.

"Lumos Felibus," Ashton read aloud.

"Sounds interesting." "Alright, how do I do it?" Ashton asked.

"Follow the directions," Lily teased.

"Hey, now, I'm not the one who is able to maintain an advanced level which is equal to the students above us," Ashton said. Lily rolled her eyes and relented. Several minutes later, Ashton was able to produce the light.

"I feel like we go through this every year." Lily said, as she started laughing.

"That's because we do." Ashton said rolling her eyes.

"Parker's going to yell at us for being late to lunch. You know how she is about food," Lily said as she put the book in her satchel. She stood and pulled Ashton up with her. When they arrived at the Great Hall, they saw that the entire student population was packed into the four large house tables already. They headed for their usual spot which was the end of the table furthest from the door. Parker was already sitting there, with her nose in a book. All the that could be seen was her curly black hair over the top of the novel.

"Parker!" Ashton yelped as Lily rolled her eyes. Of the three of them, Ashton had the largest amount of energy. It showed most often late at night when Lily was attempting to sleep. She ran a hand through her long curly red hair that had fallen in her face, brushing it out of the way.

"Hey guys." Parker said after swallowing a mouthful of food.

"What spell have you been learning today?"

"What makes you assume that's what we were up to?" Ashton asked as she sat down.

"Please, it's the two of you," Parker answered.

"I found an advanced version of the spell Lumos." Lily answered as she started filling a bowl full of corn.

"It's a sweet spell. Where've you been?" Ashton added.

" Reading outside by the lake. I vacated the dorm as fast as possible. Apparently someone got new mascara or lip-gloss; something of that nature" Parker explained.

"The girls were driving me mad."

"Any idea why they started term on a Friday this year?" Ashton asked.

"Not that I'm complaining. I mean, it gives me time to actually complete my homework, but isn't it sort of a waste?"

"You should have had your homework assignments done sooner," Lily lectured. Ashton waved her off as Parker laughed.

"I think it has to do with that Voldemort guy." Parker whispered while glancing down the table, to make sure no one heard her.

"A lot of people are getting worried that something bad might happen soon." She said.

"The Daily Prophet is reporting a disappearance or two every few weeks."

"I haven't been able to renew my subscription." Lily said sadly.

"My mum felt it was best to give my sister a break from the Owls flying in and out."

Ashton made a sound of disgust.

"I seriously am contemplating showing up at your house on my seventeenth birthday and petrifying that girl." She growled as Lily shook her head slowly.

"I don't think that would help. My mom would probably freak out even more. Neither of them really likes me being a witch to begin with, especially not my sister."  
Parker sent her a sympathetic look across the table. Lily knew that while she didn't understand having a family who were muggles, she also knew that she genuinely cared.

"What'd they say about you being prefect?" Parker asked.

"Mum was so happy. Especially once I explained it fully. She couldn't stop smiling, and she actually bought me Sneakers as a reward." Lily couldn't keep the silly grin off of her face as she thought about the adorable kitten asleep in her dormitory at the moment.

"I swear I'm going to steal her from you Lily." Ashton said grinning.

"She's the cutest thing ever." It wasn't until after breakfast when they could be away from the rest of the school that the serious conversations began.

"So, what's next on the to do list?" Lily asked once they were climbing the staircase. Parker began grinning at the question. .

"Thought so." Lily said smirking back.

"What's the plan and who's the target?" Ashton asked, giggling.

The three girls had been best friends from day one. They first met on the train, all three petrified of the sorting hat, although for various reasons. Lily, was muggleborn, so didn't have any idea as to what to expect, while Parker was a pureblood, whose older brothers had told her horrifying stories about how you got sorted, and Ashton was afraid of tripping in front of everyone.

"Okay, so Parker, what's this big idea that you have?" Ashton asked.

"I think that as our first prank for this term we should target James Potter. After all, it's not like they'd be able to get us back." She answered.

Despite having a competition with the Marauders—a group of four Gryffindor boys—no one in the school knew that the girls were the ones who pulled the majority of pranks at the school. For the past year and a half the rumors had been that it was a group of Slytherin boys.

"Hmm..." Lily said quietly. Both girls turned to look at her expectantly.

"Well you know what would drive them mad."

"What?" Ashton asked almost impatiently.

"What if we managed to prank them from inside their dormitory? They'd be dying to know how the Slytherin's managed it. Even if they do realize that it's someone in Gryffindor, they'll never think it was a girl, much less us three."

"That's wicked! Parker exclaimed as Lily stood up and took a mock bow.

"I try. What exactly do you think would irritate them the most?"

"Well, you know how Sirius is about his hair." Ashton paused.

"What if we manipulated it somehow? Suppose we either cut it off magically, or changed it to dred locks?"

"I like it as a beginning, but we have to hit all four of them. What about Potter," Parker asked.

"What about their uniforms?" Lily said suddenly, as a coy grin spread across her face.

"You know how they love their images. What if we swap their clothes?" The other two caught on really quickly.

"Is there a way for them to think they're wearing their normal ones?" Parker asked.

Lily nodded.

"We can do Sirius' hair, at the same time we fix their clothes. We'll have to actually get into their room, to do that though. I think it's best to actually switch it over once they've hit the Great Hall," she explained.

"We're going to have to come up with a way of getting them to stay asleep." Ashton said quickly.

"We can't' risk getting caught." Lily grinned. Nope. With all that they'd done over the years, they'd get expelled if anyone ever turned them in.

"That's half the fun." Parker whined.

"Yeah, but is it worth what they'll do to us?" Ashton asked, trying not to laugh at Parker's hysterical antics.

"Even if they catch us, it's not like they're going to know who we actually are." Lily said.

"All we have to say is that we think they're hot, and that we wanted to make out with them. Those boys are so full of themselves that they'll totally buy that story.." She said disgust lining her voice.

"She's right." Parker said grinning.

"I mean, I'm sure they'll sleep through it anyway and if they don't, the worse they can do is kick us out."

"You just have a thing for Black." Ashton said, laughing at Parker's look of horror.

"No I don't." she sputtered.

"He's too arrogant, and besides, I have a feeling he's made out with every girl in this school, save for first, second and third years." Her protests were futile because Lily and Ashton had started to tear up from laughing so hard.

Once they had managed to control their laughter, the girls began planning their time to see whether or not they would be successful at this prank. It was decided that Ashton would keep a look out, and if anyone started coming near the door, she'd create a barrier within the door frame. They only wanted to use this as secondary course of action in case the boys woke up and they needed a quick getaway. Parker was in charge of fixing Sirius' hair while Lily cast the spell, which would allow her to change their clothes at her every whim. She put it on every single uniform, because she had a feeling they'd try to sneak back up and change.  
Luckily for them all four boys stayed completely silent as they stole out of the room as quietly as possible. They quickly walked down to breakfast; laughing as they talked about how exciting today was going to be. They knew that Gryffindor house was going to get a rude awakening this morning, on the account that Sirius Black absolutely adored his hair.


	2. Chapter II

_Readers, hello. I hope that you enjoy this new version of The Prank. I was not happy with how it was left, and so I chose (during finals week of course) to revamp it giving it new life. I am currently writing the fourth chapter, and will release the ones currently written when you guys let me know when you want them and if you like the new style. Some stuff will remain, others are gone and new material will be in this story, so I suggest not skipping anything! Also the story structure has changed. I hope you like it! _

_-Aalis_

* * *

The Great Hall was loud with student chatter as the Marauder's walked through the doors. Lily's eyes shot upwards, after Parker nudged her with her foot. She muttered the incantation she'd looked up last night, and pointed her wand. Within seconds, the four boys were wearing different uniforms than they had previously been wearing.

Now Potter was dressed in the Slytherin uniform; Black was, in Hufflepuff's, Pettigrew was sporting Gryffindors, and Lupin was in Ravenclaw's. However the best part was that these uniforms were the ones designed for the girls of those houses. The student body stared in shock, and then began howling with laughter. Even the boys were trying not to laugh at the other three, until they realized they too had become victimized.

"What's the triangle above their heads?" A first year asked Parker.

"The party responsible for the prank signs each incident with that triangle," Parker answered.

"What are the initials for?" The girl asked curiously. Parker shrugged as she tapped her nose with the spoon in her hand.

"Not sure. No one is to be honest; it's just some secret that the group has. There's no real name for them." She explained to the younger girl.. Lily grinned to herself as she thought about the enigma that they had created It was a blue triangle, with three initials; on in each corner: MR, PB, and HB. They represented each of the girls; Lily was a muggleborn with red hair; Parker, a pureblood with black hair, and Ashton, a halfblood with brown hair. It wasn't the most creative code, but they had created it in their first year, after the Marauders had stolen credit for their own prank.

To Lily's delight their first class was Charms. As usual, Ashton, Parker and her were the first to reach the classroom, and they sat in the back right corner. The Marauder's seat, which was the center aisle desk in the back row, remained empty throughout the class, and they didn't reappear until Transfiguration. They were all sitting in the classroom, before everyone else got there, even beating Lily, Ashton, and Parker.

Lily walked to her desk, forcing herself not to look at the four ridiculously dressed boys. The girls prided themselves on no one ever finding out about who was behind their antics. Even so it was difficult, not to laugh, especially at the fact that they hadn't managed to break the spell. While it was a simple enough spell, it was incredibly rare.

Ashton on the other hand was having much more trouble at not laughing. The more that Sirius Black kept scowling the harder she laughed. Parker was sending her warning glances as often as possible, but they were very close to what her smirks looked like.

"You know, it's rude to laugh," Sirius commented.

Lily rolled her eyes and dropped into her seat. Parker was about to respond when Professor McGonagall walked into the room."Mr. Potter, Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin, please share your reasoning as to why you have decided to break dress code this morning?" She asked disapprovingly.

James responded by pointing towards the floating signature over their heads. The Transfiguration Mistress tutted under breath.

"Yet you decided not to break the spell?" She asked.

"We couldn't figure out the charm," Sirius replied grudgingly. Lily stared at her desk unable to hide her grin. It wasn't until Parker kicked her in the leg which knocked the glee from her face. McGonagall had started the lessons. The teachers had long given up on trying to punish students for the pranks that the girls pulled. They never managed to leave enough of a trace to be discovered, and it kept the school year interesting.

Transfiguration was by far the hardest subject for Lily. She spent so much time attempting to learn and master it in order to maintain a high grade point average. She hated that Potter didn't have to study and could just complete assignments on his first try. She only managed to hold the highest academic spot by working non-stop on assignments, specifically ones that didn't come naturally to her.

Their assignment that day in class was to transfigure a snail into a thimble."Miss Evans twenty points to Gryffindor for being the first successful student." Professor McGonagall said as she approached her desk.

"You are quite the talented student. Very few are able to do so on their first attempt," she said

"Don't worry about homework."

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin, five points for being able to transfigure your snails properly," the professor said approvingly. Before class let out she assigned everyone practice, and Lily, Ashton, and Parker hurried out of the room.

"Let me guess Miss Evans," Parker began in a mock McGonagall voice.

"You mastered that charm, when, hmm…last year perhaps?" Lily turned pink and gave her a playful push.

"So? What's your point? Be grateful that I have mad study skills." Lily said giggling.

"Yes, we're grateful, but I thought that was your worst subject." Ashton interjected.

"I was bored."

"Who could have pulled this off?" Sirius asked heatedly.

"I mean, we couldn't even get rid of it!" His three best friends all looked rather sullen.

"You have to give them credit. It was some decent magic." James said as he took a sip of firewhiskey.

"Just be glad it's faded off." There was a moment of silence before anyone else spoke.

"We can't just let them get away with it. We need justice!" Sirius declared, while Peter nodded his agreement.

"As much as we all love that idea," Remus interjected.

"There's the small problem of the fact that we don't know who they are." As Remus' words sunk in, their energy began to evaporate.

"They have to be older." James said roughly. "I mean, that was decent magic, more than any normal fifth year could have done. After all, they swapped out our clothes, without a glitch or anything."

"Stupid Slytherins," Sirius muttered as he ran his hand through his newly re-grown tresses.

"Why do you think it was a Slytherin?" Peter spoke up.

"I mean, how else do you explain Sirius' hair?"

"That hex," Sirius said quickly. The rest of the boys looked at him confused.

"Remember, someone hexed me yesterday, but it didn't do anything? It had to be delayed, by a time spell."

"That would be a decent bit of spell work," Remus said skeptically.

"This would have to be an older student," James said from his four poster bed.

"I mean otherwise they would've needed a lot of help, and we know that Remus didn't do it. So they would have to ask someone who wasn't the top of the year."

"Actually, you're wrong," Remus said quietly. There was a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks, which exposed his embarrassment.

"What do you mean?" James asked confused.

"I'm not top of the year," he said. His voice was still relatively low. James, Sirius, and Peter all looked at him surprised. Remus' cheeks grew redder as he ran a hand through his hair sheepishly.

"It's that Evans girl who is ranked first. I'm actually fourth," he muttered

"Evans…." Sirius muttered thinking.

"Evans…have I made out with that one?"

"I don't think so. She's a bookworm. Practically lives in the library." Peter said with a shake of his head.

"She's about five foot five, deep ruby red hair, and emerald eyes," he continued to describe her. His voice began to trail off when they continued to look at him blankly.

"Oh." James said suddenly.

"She's in our classes." At this they all groaned.

"Of course the girl's in our classes, she's in our year." Remus said smacking him in the head with a pillow.

"Do you know her personally, Wormtail?" Peter shook his head.

"I've never talked to her. Well aside from her helping me out once in Charms, but that was in first year."

"Well, I believe that we may need to have a chat with Miss Evans." Remus said with a clap of his hands. The smile had returned to his face. His friends on the other hand simply looked at him confused.

"No, I don't think that she is behind it. However, she may know how they pulled it off. Earlier James suggested that a younger year had help, and since she's top in the year, they may have asked her about what types of magic they would need to use. We can ask her if she know who they are."

"Do you know what I just realized?" James spoke once more. They all looked at him grinning.

"After all of these years, they don't even have a name. Everyone in this school just refers to them, as 'them, or they," he told them.

"What's more is that they've never been caught."

It was the fourth of September, three days after they had managed to pull off their first prank of the year. Lily was studying in the library, hidden away in her favorite spot which was in a nook buried by a large bay window behind the stacks of Transfiguration books. It was so far back that the majority of students didn't know about it. She and Severus had found it when they were first years, and it was their spot ever since.

Her homework for the first few weeks were already complete, so she was back flipping through her sixth year spell book. She had bubbled herself into the corner with two powerful shield charms, and a silencing spells so that she could practice the spells that she found interesting. The shield charms had become standard after older students started teasing her while she studied in the previous year. She added the silencing charm, when she realized that couples had started making out around her. It was a nice system, because it allowed her to work by herself without interruption. Although it wasn't as efficient as wards, she didn't have much choice. In order to create wards in Hogwarts you had to have a certain amount of clearance.

She'd been there since noon, and it was now seven in the evening. Lily groaned as she realized she'd worked through dinner again.

"Great, Ashton and Parker won't let that one go," the redhead muttered under her breath. She started picking her books up, unaware of any movement outside her safe haven. It took her a few minutes to collect her belongings and take down the shield charms around her. She stepped away from the table, and proceeded to trip.

"Ouch," Lily moaned as she hit the floor hard.

"I'm so sorry!" The body that she had tripped over said. She was picked up and set on her feet before she registered what was happening.

"Why were you lying on the floor?" Lily asked as she smoothed her skirt. She looked up prepared to rant and rave only to become speechless.

James Potter was standing in front of her. Despite being in the same house and year, she didn't have much contact with him. They ran in different social circles: he was popular, and she wasn't. Lily awkwardly stood there fidgeting.

"Erm—hello," James said awkwardly. She said nothing, merely watched him, wondering what exactly he was after. She tilted her head to the side while looking at him confused.

"Well, I was wondering…" he sputtered after a moment of awkward silence. It was after that statement that the boy's nose started bleeding.

"You should probably go to the hospital wing," Lily said as her nose scrunched upward.

"What?" James asked.

"You nose is bleeding," she answered. He gingerly touched a finger to his face.

"Next time don't lie around on the floor," Lily said before leaving.

"Lily, we've kind of have a problem." Ashton said breathlessly. She had previously been running from the Great Hall with Parker on her heels. They'd hurried to the kitchens, looking for Lily, after noting the time. Despite the girl's addiction to the library, she had quite the appetite. When she had missed dinner, they both knew they'd find her in the kitchens.

"What are you talking about and why are you out of breath?" Lily asked before taking a bite of her food.

"We ran from the Great Hall," Ashton answered.

"You're easy to anticipate considering how much you enjoy food," Parker added. Lily glared at her for a moment before taking a big bite of food.

"Are you trying to say something?" The redhead asked defensively.

"No," Ashton interjected.

"They're looking for you," Parker blurted out.

"Who's looking for me?" Lily asked confused.

"The Marauders," Parker answered.

"Ashton you explain, you overheard them." Both Lily and Parker looked t her and she shrugged. They both looked over at the brunette.

"They want to get revenge on us," Ashton said.

"Well, they don't know that we're responsible for the prank. They seem to think it's an older Slytherin. However, because they have Lupin—who happens to be brilliant—they think that there's a possibility of someone younger who had helped. Specifically they think someone asked you," the brunette explained.

Lily erupted into laughter, while her two friends stared at her. The laughter drew the attention of the house elves for a brief moment before they started working again.

"I told you guys!" Lily said still laughing.

"I told you that they'd never suspect us."

"Lily, this is still somewhat of a problem," Parker said. Despite the comment, Lily continued to laugh.

"What if we just told them it was us? Just to see the look on their faces," Lily said. Ashton's eyes went incredibly wide.

"That'll go over swimmingly," Parker muttered under her breath.

"They'll rat us out," Ashton argued.

"I doubt that they'd believe us," Lily pointed out.

"I'd rather not take the chance," Ashton said.

"I doubt that they'd snitch on us considering they'd want revenge," Parker said.

"You don't know that for sure," Ashton said as she was handed a glass of pumpkin juice by one of the elves.

"Do you remember half the pranks that we've pulled on them?" Lily asked her snorting into her own glass.

"Ninety-percent are personal and public," Parker reminded her.

"Fine, shatter all of my hopes and dreams that we might survive this situation," Ashton conceded despite her grin.

"Since you two have all of the answers, what do we do?" She asked a moment later.

"Nothing" Lily answered.

"Just act like normal. They're looking for me; they've got no reason to think anything of you two, considering no one really knows who we are. I told you that the fact that we're so quiet and studious would help us in the long run. If they manage to catch up to me, I'll just feign all knowledge."

"So just act normal?" Parker asked.

"Yes, besides they actually have to find me first and if there's one thing that I'm great at it's hiding," Lily said.

"She's right," Ashton said to Parker.

"Lily, you alright?" Parker asked noticing that Lily had seemed to go rigid after her statement.

"They already found me," Lily murmured.

"What?" Ashton asked.

"Potter tripped me on my way out of the library. I thought he'd just been lying on the ground." Lily explained.

"He must have ran into the shield charms I had placed around me, and I didn't notice it because of my silencing spells," Lily said as her eyes widened. "What?" Ashton asked in obvious disbelief. Parker on the other hand exploded into hysterical laughter.

"His nose was bleeding, and I told him to go to the Hospital Wing," Lily added.

"So what does that mean?" Ashton asked.

"I suppose we'll have to see which group is better at Hide and Seek," Lily answered with a grin.


	3. Chapter III

_Readers, let me know what you think!_

* * *

Chapter III

It took them exactly a month to make direct contact with her outside of classes. Lily had spent the previous four weeks dodging the four boys, specifically James Potter. Thus far it had been highly successful, and exhausting. She was studying in the Common Room, which coincided with the tutor sessions that Lupin held in the library. Unfortunately it seemed that Quidditch practice had been canceled due to the dangerous electrical storm.

"You do realize that it's rude to stare, right?" Lily asked the two boys sitting in front of her. Her eyes were on the parchment in front of her as she worked on the essay outline.

"How do you know that we're staring if you're not even looking at us?" Sirius Black asked her sounding haughty.

"Why else would you be sitting here in an uncomfortable silence?" Lily asked them without looking up from her homework.

"Who said that it's uncomfortable?" James asked.

"Considering that we've never spoken before and we're not friends I would say that, yes this is an uncomfortable silence," Lily replied.

"Could you look at us?" Sirius said with a slight rise in his voice. Lily's eyes darted up out of sheer surprise that he would yell at her.

"Perhaps next time when you attempt to initiate a conversation with someone whom you are not well acquainted with you should do so in a more polite tone, than yelling 'Evans how dare you help Slytherin freaks' at me" Lily said. Although her voice remained steady and polite, had the two boys known her they would've realized that she was quite angry.

"Well had you not avoided us for the past month, I wouldn't be yelling at you," Sirius shot back at her.

"Who said that I was avoiding you?" Lily asked as she set down her pen and folded her arms over her chest.

"You've sprinted away any bloody time one of us tried to talk to you!" Sirius yelled.

"Newsflash I'm not telepathic. If you desired to speak with me, you should have learned to either speak to me in an academic setting, or during an appropriate alternative time," Lily said frustrated.

"An appropriate alternative time? What does that mean?" James asked.

"Clearly it doesn't exist. She's just enjoying toying with us. You know how girls are, they just want to be chased. Clearly Evans here just wants the bloody attention," Sirius said with a smug look to Lily.

"You're a moron," the redhead answered rolling her eyes.

"You're a prude," the Black heir said back.

"Is that the best you can come up with? Insult my moral integrity? Honestly it's not much of an insult."

"Listen, we just want to talk, is that such an issue?" James asked elbowing Sirius in the ribs. The other boy looked at him angrily as he rubbed his side.

"Yes because you've shown an incredible amount of disrespect. We're not acquaintances, much less friends and I don't have to tolerate your irritating advances," she answered.

"I'm beginning to see why you have no friends," Sirius blurted out. Lily's eyes widened in surprise before she stood up.

"I'm surprised to see that you have any at all, since all you do is insult them each time you open your mouth," she said angrily.

"Oi! Where are you going? We're not done talking to you," Sirius said raising his voice as she became further and further away from them.

"Where does she think she's going?" He asked James as Lily walked out of the portrait hole.

"She has a study group." Parker said dropping into Lily's now vacant seat. Both boys looked at her in confusion before exchanging glances with each other.

"Er—sorry, but who in the ruddy hell are you?" Sirius asked rudely.

"Wow. Did you talk to her like that too? No wonder you pissed her off," Parker said ignoring Sirius' question.

"He did," James confirmed. Parker rolled her eyes.

"Good job, you'll be lucky if you see her in the near future."

"She doesn't always talk like that does she?" Sirius asked.

"Like what? Oh she gave you that long winded runaround did she?" Parker asked with a laugh.

"You mean all of that was an act?" Sirius asked astounded.

"Oh no, she really does speak like that when she is mad. " Parker answered with a grin.

"She didn't seem angry at all," James commented.

"Yeah she has quite a handle on her emotions. The angrier she becomes the brainer her statements grow. It deters those of a lesser intellect from attempting to usurp her authority and boss her around. The sarcasm increases as well, and helps prevent intimidation towards her. It's quite a fascinating conundrum considering that most people begin to babble incoherently when their nervous," Parker said.

"Sort of like you're doing now?" Sirius asked amused.

"Perhaps," Parker said coyly.

"So how do we talk to Evans?" James asked.

"We've been trying to for ages," Sirius told her.

"You should start by calling her by her first name. Not to mention pissing her off is really not going to help your case," Parker told him.

"Hey, are you ready?" Ashton asked. Parker nodded and stood up to follow her friend out of the common room. Halfway to the door, she paused and looked back at them.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you Potter. Did you tell Black about breaking your nose?" She asked curiously. The reaction was instant, and it brought a grin to Parker's face. James on the other hand looked at her with clear annoyance as Sirius started asking him numerous questions. When he turned to answer his friend, Parker pulled Ashton out of the common room.

"Did you get the map?" Parker asked as she led the way down the hallway.

"You really have to ask?" Ashton asked as she produced the item in question.

"They're going to be pissed when they realize that it's gone," Parker said although the amount of glee in her voice suggested that she wasn't worried about the discovery at all.

"Clearly, although we do have more of a need for it currently than they do," Ashton pointed out as they snuck into a secret passage off of the main corridor in which Gryffindor Tower was located.

"I'm still worried that they'll start targeting all three of us now that they've seen us together," Ashton said as they followed the corridor. They were going to meet Lily on the fourth floor.

"It'll be fine. Just don't worry about it," Parker said tucking the map in her pocket. The passage let out just outside of a painting depicting a nest of snakes, with a lion sitting next to it. If examined closely, a badger and an eagle were also present.

There was no lock to the painting, nor any password. It merely covered the entrance to the room it hid. Inside was a large room filled with a variety of couches and chairs; there were also two fireplaces. It looked very much like a common room. Lily's assumption was that it was originally designed to be a common room for all of the houses to share; although she didn't know why no one knew about it.

Slipping inside they headed towards the farthest fireplace, which was their usual spot and sank into various pieces of furniture. Lily's favorite was the chaise lounge and she dove onto it with glee.

"How'd that retrieval go?" She asked grinning as she flipped over. In response Parker threw her the map.

"You can now avoid the Marauders with a hundred percent guarantee," Parker told her.

"Did they suspect anything?"

"Nope!" Ashton said with a grin.

"No names were dropped, so that helps. Well they know your last name, but that wasn't anything that we gave them. Are you going to explain why you wanted to steal the map? You seemed to be doing pretty well with avoiding them on your own," Parker said as she sat in her usual oversized armchair.

"Potter has become much better at his, "Lets-Stalk-Lily game," the redhead explained.

"What do you mean?" Parker asked.

"He's gotten smarter about how he finds me; apparently his newest strategy is just to stay still. A few days ago he was waiting in the common room with his friends before breakfast. He practically tackled me when I tried to slide by them," Lily explained.

"Why do all the girls in this school want to date that boy again?" Ashton asked.

"My guess would be that he normally doesn't man-handle them," Parker answered laughing.

"Agreed, anyways I would really just like to avoid any more interactions with that group," Lily said.

"Black called me a prude, and told me that I didn't have any friends due to my personality."

"Ignore him. He's just upset that we messed with his hair," Ashton said.

"We love you because of your personality. Ashton's right, Black is just annoyed and lashing it out," Parker reassured her.

"He might be right, I mean people don't know who we are, much less interact with us," Lily said.

"Need I remind you that you like that?" Parker asked teasingly.

"There's nothing wrong with being introverted. You base your friendships on quality rather than quantity. You don't have to worry about whether or not people will be there when things get bad. You have us, and you know that you're stuck with us forever," Ashton informed her.

"Have they even managed to ask you about the spell?" Parker asked a moment later.

"No," Lily answered.

"Each time Potter shows up, he stutters for a bit and then I get bored. By the time he's about to ask me, I've picked a fight about something else. The first time I did it on purpose, but the following interactions naturally led to fights. He's just annoying."

"You're not the only one who thinks so," Parker pointed out.

"Severus can't stand Potter or his friends. They're the ones that he's always getting into fights with."

"I'm not surprised considering how big of a prick Black is," Lily muttered.

"Don't let him hear you say that, he'll just make it out that you want him sexually," Ashton pointed out. Lily and Parker erupted into laughter at the statement. To hear her say something of such nature was incredibly irregular. She was generally outspoken, but not of sexual jokes.

"It's true," she added after a moment.

"Where are they now?"

"Good question, let's check." Lily pulled out the map and placed her wand to the parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she said. The map quickly revealed itself and the three girls leaned over it.

"They're in their dorm room," Parker said pointing to Gryffindor Tower.

"Wait, Lupin isn't," Ashton corrected her.

"Why is he standing in a hallway by himself? Kind of weird to just loiter outside the Gryffindor Common room isn't it?"

"Bollocks! I have rounds!" Lily yelled jumping up from her seat so quickly that she tripped over her own feet. She popped back upwards to her feet a second or two later.

"I'm so sorry guys, but I have to go!" She was out the door before Parker or Ashton could say a word. They exchanged glances before one of them finally spoke.

"How is she supposed to avoid them if they're both prefects together?" Ashton asked.

"Better question, how does no one know who she is if she's Gryffindor's prefect?" Parker asked.

"You know how she is when it comes to her perspective of what other people think of her. She's a little blind to it all," Ashton said. Lily Evans was a bit of an enigma. She was the girl that was super nice, good-looking, and creative while rejecting those qualities. She saw herself as abrasive—blunt to a painful degree—and naturally assumed that the majority of people didn't like her. It was a wall that she had created to protect herself.

If asked herself, she'd proudly proclaim that she enjoyed her social life at Hogwarts, or rather the lack thereof. Social interactions for her were not enjoyable, like they were for kids who loved being the center of attention. Lily absolutely hated when people paid attention to her.


	4. Chapter IV

_Readers, let me know what you think!_

* * *

Chapter IV

"He spent the entire evening talking about the pranks that we've pulled," Lily complained at the breakfast table the next morning. Ashton and Parker exchanged glances over their plates before the engaged in the conversation.

"Well what did you expect?" Parker asked.

"Lupin's supposed to be brainer than the rest of them and yet he spent the night absolutely gushing about all of the tricks we've pulled. His tone of voice and the awe that it was saturated in was something worthy of Black. Lupin is a prefect, he's meant to maintain a higher standard than the rest of them."

"You're a prefect," Ashton muttered earning a laugh from Parker.

"Yes, and as I said I maintain a higher standard. I've never been caught nor have I ever gotten a detention." Lily shot back at her friend.

"She's got you there," Parker said.

"I just don't get why he would care so much about what we did? Those pranks clearly cannot be that impressive," Lily asked as she took a bite of bacon.

"Oi!" Parker said.

"Oh you know what I mean," Lily said with a wave of her hand.

"He's still a boy and they tend to be obsessed with stuff like pranks," Ashton pointed out.

"What sort of questions did he ask?" Parker asked.

"He didn't ask any. At least he didn't ask what I expected him to ask about. He just wanted to know what I thought about the pranks. He started talking about the different ones we've pulled over the years. He wanted to sit there and dissect how we managed to do each one, what techniques were used, which spells were chosen over others. I was surprised by his memory he listed nearly every single one, and to be honest I'd forgotten we'd pulled so much over the past five years," Lily answered.

"Out of curiosity how many did he list?" Parker asked.

"Over five hundred, and he was only bringing up the public ones that the majority of the school managed to catch sight of, " Lily answered.

"I was going to say, we've definitely pulled more than five hundred. We probably should've kept count. My guess would be at least two thousand a year, and over a five year period, we'd be looking at ten thousand or so," Ashton said out loud.

"No one would believe that," Lily said immediately.

"More importantly, what did you tell him?" Parker asked.

"I mostly focused on the idea that I didn't care for pranks. If I recall correctly I stated that I find them immature and a waste of time. I proceeded to then prattle on about as much academic topics as I could think of at the time," Lily explained.

"Do you think he'll buy that story; a nerdy girl who is prudish and only is interested into school work?" Ashton asked.

"Considering you were complaining about Black already thinking that, I believe you'll be fine," Parker said grinning.

"Lupin isn't like the rest of them. He's keenly observant, and much harder to fool. Black and Potter generally just want to hear certain things and they choose to believe stories because of that," Ashton reminded them.

"Have you used the map since last night?"

"Yes, this morning when you were in the shower. I wanted to make sure that they weren't waiting for me again in the common room" Lily explained.

"Actually now that you mention it, they aren't here, and breakfast is about to over," Parker said as she looked around the dining hall. Lily and Ashton followed suit and started scanning the hall suddenly worried about the absence.

"That's unusual," Ashton said quietly.

"You don't think they're up to something do you?" Parker said after a moment.

"Yes I do," Lily told her. The three girls looked at one another slightly alarmed before looking at their food.

"You don't think that they would—"

"Poison the food?" Ashton asked, finishing Lily's question.

"I was going to say rig the food. I doubt they are stupid enough to kill the student population," Lily said.

"That makes more sense," Ashton said thoughtfully as she yawned. Parker and Lily exchanged glances with one another.

"You're having trouble sleeping again aren't you?" Parker asked.

"I think the real question is when do I not have trouble sleeping," Ashton corrected her.

"You could always talk to Madame Pomfrey about it. I'm sure there is a potion you could take," Lily said gently while Ashton shook her head.

"I don't want to get addicted to sleeping potions," she said. Lily looked at her friend concerned. It wasn't uncommon for the girl to stay up for days at a time. While they had found some benefits from it—such as learning the castle better than anyone else—she still worried about her friend.

"Insomnia sucks, but it's nothing to worry about," Ashton said reassuringly.

"Sorry smalls, you should stop selling, because we're not buying it," Parker said. Lily grinned along and Ashton eventually rolled her eyes while giving a soft smile. Their happiness lasted only a moment before a loud explosion went off in the Great Hall and everyone was covered in debris which had previously been their food.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Parker yelled as she wiped food from her closed eyelids. Looking around the hall it was clear that every table had been hit which meant that the Marauders had rigged all the food, not just Gryffindor's. Their emblem; a rat, stag, dog, and wolf suddenly appeared in the middle of the Great Hall.

"I'm going to kill them," Parker muttered as she started pulling food out of her hair.

"Get in line," Lily told her gesturing to the rest of the room.

"Did you see their faces?" Peter asked with absolute glee as he peeked into the Great Hall. Sirius was leaning up against the wall across from the doors, and sighed heavily.

"Wormtail, the point is to watch Evans," he said. It had been the fifth time he repeated himself and he was growing weary of it quickly.

"Yeah, yeah," Peter muttered as he waved a hand at his friend. Sirius rolled his eyes, at the reaction and pointedly ignored Remus' smirk.

"Oi, let him have his fun," Remus told his friend. He looked through the door over Peter's head.

"Well?" James asked.

"They look angry," Remus answered.

"She's not laughing or anything. She just looks extremely upset," Remus said.

"So it's not her then," Sirius answered sounding satisfied. Remus however held up a hand to stop him as he turned to look at his friend.

"Hold on. You have to remember that these are girls. They're not exactly rationale."

"Mate you don't have to tell me," Sirius said with a laugh.

"That isn't what I mean. No girl is going to like having food exploded onto them. If you ask me, if you want to get her to reveal her love of pranks you're going to have to be creative and do it to someone else in front of her," Remus said.

"I've got the perfect target too," Sirius said with a snap of his fingers.

"I've been wanting to get Snivelus back for that hair prank he pulled for the past month."

"You know comments like those make me wonder about your sexuality Pads," James said. Sirius looked at him affronted.

"Especially since you're okay that we call you the name of a feminine hygiene product come to think of it. Anything you want to tell us?" He asked goading Sirius into reacting. Instead of answering, Sirius tackled him to the ground, which resulted in an immediate wrestling match.

"Peter, we better get moving to classes, before the students leave the Great Hall," Remus said nudging the shorter boy.

"What about those two?" Peter asked.

"They'll be fine," Remus answered grinning.

"You bloody ponce!" Sirius hissed under his breath at Remus. Although Lily found that description to be debatable considering she could hear him from across the room.

"What?"

"You were the one who said to curse Snivellus!"

"No. I did not. I said to prank someone in front of her. I did not suggest you hex one of her friends in front of her," Remus replied. Lily rolled her eyes as she continued writing her transfiguration essay.

"Don't try to blame me for your black eye. Why don't you go see Madame Pomfrey instead of whining about it?" Remus asked in a very patronizing tone. Lily had to hide a smirk as Sirius answered him.

"Bloody minx made it unfixable via magical means," Sirius muttered. Remus erupted into laughter and couldn't stop even when Professor McGonagall looked at him sharply.

"Mr. Lupin, I presume you have a legitimate reason for disrupting the class," the professor said. Remus nodded while continuing to laugh. The professor gestured for him to share.

"My good friend Sirius here, it seems has bitten off more than he can chew. Not only did he pick a fight with the wrong student, but he now has to walk around with a black eye."

Lily assumed that the Professor would punish Sirius for "starting a fight," but instead she smiled with a slight chuckle.

"In that case, I presume punishment enough has occurred, and five points to whomever is responsible for such a creative protection spell."

As Professor McGonagall's eyes met Lily's she had to struggle not to gape, even more so when the older lady winked at her. Sirius looked highly put out at the turn of events. Lily on the other hand had found the entire ordeal rather pleasant, well it had turned out pleasant. It hadn't begun that way. After class, she was walking with Severus towards the Entrance Hall.

"I can't believe you punched him," Severus said gleefully.

"Will you calm down?" Lily asked grinning.

"You punched Sirius Black in the face and you managed to get points for doing it. Why in Merlin's beard would I calm down about that?" He asked. Lily grinned at his energy.

"I just got mad that they were bullying you, and I lost my temper," she said sheepishly.

"He never saw it coming," Severus told her as they walked out the front doors onto the lawn.

"Where's Parker? I can't wait to tell her!"

"Wait, what?" Lily asked.

"We have to tell people, this is the best thing that's happened ever since we met those idiots," Severus said. Lily raised an eyebrow at him and wondered at the reason for his enthusiasm. She had known that the Marauders and Severus didn't get along, but this seemed to be like Christmas come early for the kid.

"Sev," she said in a quiet voice as she stopped walking. They were just outside the doors leading into the castle. He turned and looked at her gesturing for her to continue.

"This isn't the first time they've done something like this to you is it?"

He remained silent and eventually he shook his head in answer. Lily felt herself frowning and grow angry.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I'm able to handle it Lily. It's not as though I'm incompetent," Severus said.

"No one is saying that. However four against one isn't exactly fair, no matter how much magical talent you have," Lily said. Severus rolled his eyes at her as he started walking away. Lily started following him, while she started planning revenge against the Marauders for their treatment of her best friends.

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Don't worry about it Lily?" Severus said.

"No. We're friends, so I will worry all I bloody want to," Lily said with a very stern tone.

"Now how long has this been going on?"

"Since first year, what did you think was going on every time I was around them?" Severus asked.

"You never showed any signs of bruises and neither did they! It just seemed like you all would yell at each other," Lily answered.

"So I'm good with healing spells, what's your point?" Severus asked smirking over his shoulder at her.

"You're incorrigible," Lily said as they finally reached Parker where she was sitting on the grounds.

"What's he done now?" Parker asked without looking up from the book that she was reading.

"Apparently he's been withholding information regarding Potter and his cronies. They've been picking on him for what the past few years?" She looked at him to confirm the statement. He reluctantly nodded.

"It's not that big of a deal. I can handle it on my own," he told them.

"Sev, there's a reason we're friends and this is the stuff that friends share with one another," Parker told him. While Severus started trying to explain the entire situation away, Lily and Parker exchanged a look of calculating fury.


End file.
